I've always enjoyed eating in pubs but up until recently have never considered staying in one. Enduring images of Dralon headboards, polyester sheets and communal bathrooms with a jukebox blaring below have always put me off. It was when I visited the Howard Arms in the Cotswolds that I discovered what I've been missing. Why stay in a B&B and be forced to go on a laborious search for a good pub or restaurant to have an evening meal when you only have to pay a little bit more to have both on your doorstep?

I'm not the only one to have discovered the joys of staying in a gastropub. More people are shunning the starchiness of country house hotels in favour of a pub's informality and relaxed atmosphere. Recognising this trend, some of the UK's top chefs have been buying their own pubs or been headhunted by publicans to transform their menus.

'Country pubs have had a tough time - you can't make a living selling crisps and beer anymore. They have realised the way to make money is in food and beds,' says Fiona Stapley, deputy editor of the Good Pub Guide .

The substantial improvement in pub accommodation has been cited by the Good Pub Guide as one of the key trends of 2003. Many pubs are expanding their rooms by converting characterful outbuildings or adding annexes.

Rob and Gill Greenstock ran the Cotswold House Hotel in Chipping Campden before realising there was a gap in the market and buying the Howard Arms in Ilmington. 'In the 10 years that we ran the hotel we found that there was a general trend towards informality. More and more people wanted to eat in our all-day eatery than our full-service restaurant with its starched tablecloths,' says Rob.

It took them a long time to find a property that fitted the bill: the Howard Arms was the fifty-first pub they looked at. They inherited two very uninspiring bedrooms and set about transforming them into stylish rooms, adding another in the process.

Running a smaller operation also means more flexibility with the food, something many gastropubs make the most of by utilising local ingredients. 'In the hotel we were restricted by printed menus but our blackboard menu means we can change dishes as much as we like and use the best of what's on offer. So if someone comes into the pub with 13 brace of pigeon we can take them.'

The Greenstocks have got planning permission to build five more rooms but are not sure. 'It might destroy the atmosphere and become more of a hotel than a pub. There is a very fine balance.'

· The 2004 Good Pub Guide is published by Ebury Press on Wednesday for £14.99.